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2010 Feminism, Cultural Violence of Danielle Poe University of Dayton, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/phl_fac_pub Part of the of Philosophy Commons, Other Feminist, , and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons eCommons Poe, Danielle, "Feminism, Cultural Violence of" (2010). Philosophy Faculty Publications. 10. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/phl_fac_pub/10

This Encyclopedia Entry is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Philosophy at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Philosophy Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more , please contact [email protected], [email protected]. 132 FAILED STATES AND CONFLICT

International Committee of the Red Cross; Intervention, Straw, Jack. "Failed and Failing States." Speech given by the Humanitarian; , International; Nation-States, Causes British foreign secretary at the European Institute, University of Birmingham, 6 September 2002. of Conflict in; and United Nations, subent1y on System in Tedesco, Laura, "The Latin American States: 'Failed' or Foreign Policies of States.] Evolving?" Working Paper No. 37 of the Fundaci6n para la Relaciones Intemacionales y el Dia.logo Exterior (FR.IDE), BIBLIOGRAPHY May 2007. African Studies Centre, et al. Failed and Collapsed Stales in the Thiirer, Daniel. "The 'Failed Stale' and International Law." International System. Leiden: African Studies Centre; International Review of the Red Cross, no. 836 (31 December Amsterdam: Transnational Institute; Coimbra: Center of 1999): 731- 761. Available at http://www.icrc.org. Social Studies, Coimbra University; Madrid: CIP-FUHEM, 2003. CR! TOFFOLO Akude, John Erneka. "The Failure and Co ll apse o[ the Afi-ican : On the Example of Ni geria." Fundaci6n para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Dia.logo Exterior (FRIDE), September 2007 . http://www.fride.org/publication/262/the­ FEMINISM, CULTURAL VIOLENCE OF. For most, failure-and-collapse-of-the-african-state-on-the-example-of­ if nol all, self-defined feminists, feminism means support nigeria. for equality between women and men. The difficulty with Chomsky, Noam. Failed Slates: The Abuse of Power and the this definition, though, is determining what one means Assault on . San Francisco: Owl Books, 2008. by "equality," by "women and men," and by "" and "Failed and Collapsed Slates in the International System." "gender." For some feminists, equality requires that differ­ Leiden: African Studies Centre; Amsterdam: Transnational Institute; Coimbra: Center of Social Studies, Coimbra ences between women and men be acknowledged and University; Madrid: CIP-RUHEM, 2003. valued. For other feminists, equality means that the cate­ "The Failed State Index." Foreign Policy (July-August 2007): 5~3 . gory 'buman" encompasses women and men and that "The Failed States Index 2008." Foreign Policy (July-August the differences within a sex are greater than differences 2008). http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?page= l& story_id=4350. between the sexes. Feminists also differ on what they Haims, Marla C., David C. Gompert, Gregory F. Treverton, and mean by "women" and "men"; these terms can be Brooke Stearns Lawson. "Breaking the Failed-State Cycle." defined biologically, genetically, culturally, religious! , Occasional Paper of the Rand Corporation. Santa Monica: or psychologically. In academic feminism, RAND Corporation, 2008. has dictated that sex is defined by biology and thal Klare, Michael T. "The Deadly Connection: Paramilitary Bands, gender is defined by , but the debate continu s Small Arms Diffusion, and State Pai.lure." Chap. 5 in When as to how biology and gender influence each other and Stales Fail: Causes and Consequences, edited by Robert I. Rotberg. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004. where one ends and the other begins. These debates Llosa, Alvaro Varga. "The Failure of States." Jones, 8 about the nature of feminism have helped nurture September 2005. an understanding of the complex interrelationship Mallaby, Sebastian, "The Reluctant Imperialist: Terrorism, between biology and culture and have helped to Failed States, and the Case for American Empire." Foreign Affairs 81, no. 2 (2002): 2- 15. broaden scholars' and activists' attention to different / Porter, Keith. "The Failed State Is a Real Threat to Our ways that manifests itself. Peace and Security." US Foreign Policy (8 November 2006). Cultural violence is violence thal is part of a larger social http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/ocl/backgroundhistory/a/ structure. Since cultural violence belongs to the inner faileclstates.htm. workings of a society, it is usually invisible to those who Rotberg, Roberl I. "Nation-State Failure: A Recurring are within that structure. In order to reveal the violence, Phenomenon?" Unpublished discussion paper given as part of the NIC 2020 project. 6 November 2003. feminists turn their attention to the ways in which th e Rotberg, Robert I. "The New Nature of Nation-State Failw-e." structures systematically disadvantage women. Once cul­ The Washington Quarterly 25, no. 3 (2002): 85-96. tural violence is revealed, the violence can be challenged Rotberg, Robert I, ed. When States Fail: Causes and Consequences. and corrected. For example, many would point to Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004. Condoleeza Rice as an example of a successful Rotberg, Robert I., eel. "Repressive, Aggressive, and Rogue and as evidence that and are no longer Nation-States: How Odious, How Dangerous?" In Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations, edited active in U.S. , but when we examine Rice's collu­ by Robert I. Rotberg, pp. 1-39. Cambridge, Mass.: World sion with the administration of George W. Bush, it is Peace Foundation; Washington, D.C.: Brookings evident that she is part of an institution that plays on Press, 2007. [Seep. 6- 7.] gendered to justify wars in both Iraq and FEMINISM, CULTURAL VIOLENCE OF 133

Afghanistan. This example is particularly illustrative to gender differences in moral development and has because freeing was central to the helped to undermine abstraction as the most advanced United States' justification for invading Afghanistan, form of moral reasoning and to reveal the complexity which plays on stereotypes of women as victims in need of many kinds of moral thinking. of rescue. In the war in Iraq, however, women were used The French philosopher has also been as weapons to control prisoners, as evident in pictures instrumental in feminism's ability to deconstruct patriar­ from Abu Ghraib. chal language in psychoanalysis, philosophy, and sociely. In her 1915 speech "What War Is Destroying," Jane Irigaray first gained recognition in 1974 with the publi­ Addams gave what might be the most compelling argu­ cation of Speculum, de l'autre femme (Speculum of the ment against the myth that war can promote peace. War Other Woman), in which she deconstructs psychoanaly­ destroys the conservation of human life by diverting sis and philosophy from Freud to Plato in order to time, talent, and money from social programs for chil­ demonstrate that psychoanalysis and philosophy depend dren, the elderly, and the disabled. The ascent of human on covering over the role of women and the feminine in life is halted, because instead of advancing our sensitiv­ order to elevate men and the masculine to a privileged ity to human life between generations, war makes us less position in which everything masculine is the norm sensitive. Instead of building on the achievements of the and everything feminine is nonmasculine and therefore last genera ti on, those who have gone to war and suffered deficient. Throughout her work, Irigaray demonstrates through war must begin again, because war produces a that the Western philosophical canon (Plato, Aristotle, hardening toward human suffering. The costs of war Spinoza, Hegel, Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, and others) that Addams enumerates serves as an important remin­ depends on a forgetfulness in which the feminine's only der that war takes its toll on some of the most funda­ role is to support the masculine. In 1990 she released mental relations of cooperation between people. She Sexes et genres a travers les langues (Sex and Gender points out that wars, even justified wars, destroy far through Language), which outlines the results of ongoing more than is apparent on the surface. Feminists have research by Irigaray and other linguists on how women sought to combat cultural in and men, and boys use words in French, English, three areas, language, imagery, and global conflict. and Italian. The research revealed a between the sexes in descriptions of the sexes, grammatical privi­ Cultural Violence: Language lege, and the value of each sex. For example, masculine A groundbreaking moment for discovering 's pronouns were used more frequently by both sexes for hold on language came in 1982 when descriptions of admirable traits or activities; feminine published In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory pronouns were used more frequently by both sexes for and Women's Development. Through years of studying undesirable traits or activities. For Irigaray, the results of women and men as they made moral judgments, Gilligan's the of language can lead society to research revealed a significant gender difference. Further, develop descriptions and values associated with women she discovered that male decision-making models are and men that recognize that humans have two distinct used as the standard for judging moral development. ways of being human. The distinction between women According to this standard, women are less capable of and men, then, would be recognized in , art, making moral judgments, because they make them differ­ language, and Jaw. ently than men do. At the time, Lawrence Kohlberg's Although many feminists have contributed to decon- stages of development were the most widely used measure structing patriarchal language, the third woman whose of moral development. According to his theory, the highest work has been instrumental to other feminists is Nel form of moral judgment (and also the form most com­ Noddings. Her book Caring: A Feminine Approach to monly used by men) is to apply abstract rules uniformly­ Ethics and Moral Education follows a similar trajectory to regardless of the circumstances or the individuals the work of Gilligan and Irigaray; she rejects objective involved. Women typically make judgments based on ethical reasoning as the highest form of ethical reasoning. relationships between people and the effects that She argues that using objective ethics as the standard actions would have on those relationships. Women's privileges masculine reasoning over feminine reason. She method of moral judgment, according to Kohlberg's develops an ethical theory in which subjective relation­ measure, is inferior. Gilligan's work brought attention ships teach us how to care both for those with whom we 134 FEMINISM, CULTURAL VIOLENCE OF

are immediately connected and those who are far away. objects for sexual gratification and profit. Second, it According to Noddings, caring begins with "natural harms all women and children by promoting a view caring." In these relationships, we care because "I want" that they are available to men for violence, humilia­ to care. Caring becomes "ethical caring" when we respond tion, and sexual gratification. Third, per­ to the feeling that "I must" care. While we may face situa­ petuates racism and anti-Semitism by portraying tions in which care does not happen naturally, care can be people of color and Jews as more animal-like and devi­ cultivated through remembering other situations in which ant than whites and Christians. Finally, pornography we cared for someone or someone cared for us. In care undermines society as a whole, because "pornography ethics, relationships are divided into "one caring" (the numbs the consciences, makes one increasingly callous person who gives care) and "cared-for" (the person who to cruelty, to the infliction of pain, to violence against receives care). This ethics relies on relationships between persons, to the humiliation or degradation of persons, to people to discern what is right and what is wrong, rather the abuse of women and children" (Dworkin, 1994, than on some abstract measure. pp. 152- 153). Gilligan, Irigaray, and Noddings are instrumental to While Dworkin focuses explicitly on pornography and feminists' work to deconstruct the hierarchy of the mas­ its permeation of society, Naomi Wolf opens another culine over the feminine in language and ethics. Each lens of analysis in her 1991 book, The Beauty Myth, in provides a critique of the dominant masculine model in which she traces the history of Western beauty stan­ society, but they also reveal contributions that feminine dards and the harm that these standards inflict on models provide. Critics of these feminists argue that they women. Women strive to achieve beauty standards contribute to stereotypes about women and further that require them to be abnormally thin, perpetually women's subordination. Each points out in her work youthful, and various other standards that require con­ that although the models are feminine and masculine, stant vigilance at the expense of other pursuits. She women and men can and should use both models. argues that women have become obsessed with becom­ ing beautiful, which exhausts women psychologically Cultural Violence: Imagery and physically. Further, women compete against each In addition to the language that pervades society and other, and so they remain divided and under patriarchal contributes to a hierarchy between men and women, control. By tracing the origin of these standards as well images of women have also been used to solidify patriar­ as how they manifest in society, Wolf hopes to free chal dominance. Feminists have focused their attention women from their devotion to the beauty myth o that / primarily on images of women in pornography and pop­ they will be able to pursue individual standards of ular culture to reveal the ways in which these images beauty that allow all women to thrive. contribute to violence against women and perpetuate The standards of beauty uncovered in Wolfs analysis damaging stereotypes. As with the reveal the ways in which cultural violence against itself, these critiques began with the experience of white women is exacerbated by race. A narrow range of fea­ women in the West but have expanded to consider the tures are celebrated as beautiful; because these features ways in which other forms of cultural violence (racism, are determined by Western standards, are , and class) exacerbate women's oppression. only seen as beautiful if their skin is sufficiently light, During a long career of , research, and writing, their noses sufficiently narrow, their hair sufficiently focused on the harms of pornography straight, and their bodies sufficiently thin. Although and the ways in which men control women through por­ the image of beauty changes between , the stan­ nography's influence within society. In "Why Pornography dards predominantly require that women modify their Matters to Feminists," Dworkin gives a concise two-page bodies to meet men's desires. summary of her (and other feminists') opposition to pornography. Her position is summarized in the remain­ Cultural Violence: Global Conflict der of this paragraph. According to Dworkin, pornography Another area where feminists have increasingly focu ed is harmful because it exploits women and children for their attention is on global cultural 's pleasure. The harm that pornography perpetuates women. Persistent lobbying by feminists at international happens at many levels. First, it harms those women and organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty children used in pornographic material by treating them as International has succeeded in focusing attention on the FEMINISM, CULTURAL VIOLENCE OF 135

ways in which women are targeted during conflict ; Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp; because of their gender and their . As a , Feminist Views of; Sexuality and Peace; result, the United Nations and Amnesty International Women and : The MSS in India; Women have released influential reports that pay particular and War; Women in Black; Women, Peace, and War; attention Lo women's agency as reflected in their partici­ Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; pation in war and their participation in building and Women's Peace Camps; Women's Peace Movements, securing peace. Feminists are using these analyses both History of; Women's Peace Organizations; Women's Role to lobby for increased protection of women and children in Peacemaking; and Women Strike for Peace.] and to secure women's place in formal peace processes. Both the UN report and the Amnesty International BlBLfOGRAPl-IY report document the ways in which current military con­ Addams, Jane. "What War is Destroying." In Addams's Essays and Speeches on Peace, edited by Marilyn Fischer and Judy flict deliberately targets women and children as part of D. Whipps, pp. 61-64. Bristol, U.K.: Thoemmes Press, 2006. military strategy. Women and children who suffer from a Amnesty International. Lives Blown Apart: Crimes Against low social status before conflict face exacerbated suffering Women in Times of Conflict-Stop Vio lence Against Women . when conflicts happen. Much of the suffering that women London: Amnesty International, 8 December 2004. endure specifically targets their gender. ", forced Dworkin, Andrea. Pornography: Men Possessing Women. New York: Putnam, 1981. impregnation, forced abortion, trafficking, sexual Dworkin, Andrea. "Why Pornography Matters to Feminists." In and the intentional spread of sexually transmitted infec­ Living with Contradictions: Controversies in Feminist Social tions (STis), including human immunodeficiency virus/ Ethics, edited by Alison M. Jaggar, pp. 152-153. Boulder, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), are Colo.: Westview Press, 1994. elements of contemporary conflict" (United Nations, p. 2). Edmonds, Alexander. "Triumphant Miscegenation: Reflections on Beauty and Race in Brazil." Journal of Jntercultural The report by the United Nations also recognizes the Studies 28, no. 1 (2007): 83-97. roles that women play in supporting a conflict. Although Gilligan, Carol. Jn a Different Voice: Psychological Theory a~d women endure a tremendous amount of suffering in con­ Womens Development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Umversity temporary conflict, they also play an active role in perpe­ Press, 1982. p . tuating the conflict. Women have direct roles in violence Irigaray, Luce. Sexes et genres a travers [es langues. ans: when they commit acts of violence or train as soldiers. Bernard Grasset, 1990. Irigaray, Luce. To Be Two. Translated by Monique M. Rhode~ They also have indirect roles in violence by ministering to and Marco F. Cocito-Monoc from Essere due. New York. the needs of men in the conflict, encouraging their chil­ Routledge, 2001. dren to go to war, electing that perpetuate Irigaray, Luce. An Ethics of Sexual Difference. Tr~s l ated by conflict, and spreading hatred against other groups. Carolyn Burke and Gillian C. Gill from Ethique de la The most encouraging aspect of the UN report and the difference sexuelle. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1993. Amnesty International report is the extended analysis of Irigaray, Luce. Speculum of the Other Woman. Translated by women's involvement in informal and formal peace Gillian C. Gill from Speculum de l'autre femme. Ithaca, N.Y.: processes. Both groups view women's involvement as Cornell University Press, 1985. . L r'hi·s Sex Which Is Not One. Translated by necessary to produce lasting peace and what the UN I ngaray, uce. , . . , calls "." Gender mainstreaming Catherine Porter and Carolyn Burke from Ce sexe qui n en est pas un. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985. recognizes that women and girls, men and boys will Kohlberg, Lawerence. The Philosophy of Moral IJ_evelopment: have different experiences of a conflict and that all of Moral Stages and the Idea of Justice. San Francisco: Harper these perceptions must be heard, acknowledged, and and Row, 1981. incorporated into the peace process. Noddings, Ne!. Caring: A Fem inine Approach to Ethics and The increase in attention to the gender-specific effects Moral Education. Berkeley: University of Cali fornia Press, of war and prospects for peace is only because 1984. United Nations. Secretary-General. Women, Peace, and Security: of feminists' work to deconstruct patriarchal dominance Study Submitted by the Secretary-General Pursuant to Security and to establish the significance of women's work, Council Resolution 1325 (2000). New York: United Nations, experiences, and potential. 2002. Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth: How Images ofBeauty Are Used [See also Evolving Views of Peace; Feminism and Peace; against Women. New York: William Morrow, 1991. Feminist Peace Theory; Gender, , and DANIELLE M . POE